VIRUS AND MYCOPLASMA DISEASES OF APRICOT.

ISHS Acta Horticulturae 293: IX International Symposium on Apricot Culture

VIRUS AND MYCOPLASMA DISEASES OF APRICOT.

Author:

G. Morvan

Abstract:
Viruses and viruslike pathogens can infect apricot with the same aggressivity as for other fruit trees in the family Rosaceae. They are successfully eliminated by sanitary techniques and cause no further damage as long as they are not transmitted by aerial vectors. Yet, the apricot culture is particularly threatened by two diseases. The first is a mycoplasma disease, Chlorotic leaf roll which provokes a decline of major importance in France and in Spain. Some hypotheses are proposed to explain the present localization of the disease in Europe and to evaluate the risks of further spread. The second, Sharka, caused by the Plum pox virus may endanger the culture. The risk is all the more serious as:

the attacks at the beginning pass unnoticed;
the detection of the virus is very difficult;
any measure of sanitation is unwillingly accepted by growers;
research for resistant cultivars will require a long time since we do not yet have commercially satisfactory cultivars which show some resistance.

A firm policy of control should be developed in all threaten countries.

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